---
title: The 2020 Quarantine – Dr. Thomas J. Donahue
description: This poem about COVID-19, authored by dentist Thomas J. Donahue, focuses on the experience of the pandemic quarantine.
---

[JADA+ COVID-19 Monograph ](https://pages.ada.org/en/covidmonograph)

# [The 2020 Quarantine – Dr. Thomas J. Donahue](https://pages.ada.org/en/covidmonograph/the-2020-quarantine-dr.-thomas-j.-donohue)

 Written by [Sample HubSpot User](https://pages.ada.org/en/covidmonograph/author/sample-hubspot-user) | Apr 10, 2024 8:45:09 PM

The 2020 quarantine.  
It’s positively byzantine.  
Cooped up just like a submarine  
and doing things quite unforeseen.

The window view’s the same old scene:  
the tree out front’s an evergreen.  
Not buying so much gasoline.  
Long walks are now a new routine.

It’s interesting what you glean  
by staring at the TV screen:  
I’ve watched some tours of Aberdeen,  
Saint Augustine, and Bowling Green.

I learned to cook trout almondine,  
repair a floor with travertine,  
and how to get clothes really clean  
with tetrachloroethylene.

I watched a film with Steve McQueen,  
stayed up to see The Wolverine,  
then, surfing channels, caught a scene  
from Gettysburg with Martin Sheen.

I went to get the attic clean  
and found my grandma’s soup tureen,  
her Royal Doulton figurine,  
and diary from age sixteen.

I tried to vary my cuisine  
and ate my very first sardine.  
I chased it with a nectarine  
then finished with a tangerine.

I’m eating junk food in-between;  
it does no good for staying lean.  
What’s better: more or less caffeine?  
Or should I stick with Ovaltine?

I telephoned Eileen, Charlene,  
Christine, Kathleen, Rebecca Jean,  
Joaquin, Arlene, Eugene, Marlene,  
Maureen, Pauline, and Josephine.

I’ve looked at every magazine.  
I’m finding books I’ve never seen.  
I clean so much the floor’s pristine;  
it has a lovely mirrored sheen.

I watch the cat eat, sleep, and preen.  
I counted forks. There’re seventeen.  
My hair’s all set for Halloween.  
My money’s from a cash machine.

This craziness is rather mean;  
I need some calm to intervene.  
I wish I had a time machine;  
I’d like the past to reconvene.

*__________

*Dr. Thomas J. Donahue

*Stock photo credits: Malte Mueller/Getty Images  
*

[View full post](https://pages.ada.org/en/covidmonograph/the-2020-quarantine-dr.-thomas-j.-donohue)

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